Detroit, MI&Venice, CA – (October 12, 2009) – At the helm of creating a “community” customizer for the 2010 Ford Mustang, Team Detroit/Wunderman turned to 3D integrated digital production studio Speedshape to generate the interactive site’s digital assets. With an array of pristine 3D renderings generated by Speedshape, the community customizer engages potential customers by inviting them to customize the all-new Mustang to their liking. The luminous experience was integral to engaging browsers and Mustang enthusiast alike, as the community customizer yielded record user-engagement on the Yahoo! Homepage and Ford websites, respectively, as well as social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

Starting at the Yahoo! Homepage, browsers are first engaged with five categories of customization (color, decal, grille, wheels and smoke) in real-time, before being invited to continue the experience, with all 18 categories of customization available on the official Ford website. The customized Mustangs can then be saved on the user’s desktop. But the experience doesn’t stop here. Users can also showcase their supped-up rides in Ford’s “Gallery” homepage, which encourages fellow car fans to rate and judge, as well as qualify for the “This Week’s Best.” Additionally, the customizations seamlessly link to popular social media sites Twitter and Facebook for added sharing.

The analytics of the Homepage takeover (provided by Yahoo) reveal unprecedented browser-engagement, including the most interactions on Yahoo for any advertiser ever: click-through rates earned the highest FLM (Ford, Lincoln and Mercury) rate to date; unique KBA’s (Key Buying Activity) were the highest number ever driven by any home page unit across all brands; and, moreover, it was the lowest cost per KBA of any rich media home page unit for FLM.

According to Team Detroit, nearly half of all users who expanded the unit spent at least 2 minutes or more customizing their Mustang on Yahoo! Not too mention, the industry buzz the customizer generated across social media platforms.

“In light of the analytics, this is an exciting story,” comments Scott Susalla, Speedshape VP of Sales. “I’ve been a big-time proponent of digitally repurposing assets for years; it’s exciting to see its advantages come to fruition – agencies are finally tapping into the trend and end-clients are seeing results and reaping the invaluable benefits of engaging with their customers and fans alike.”

Contributing to the versatile customizer, the Speedshape team worked with a variety of assets, including: Ford OEM assets, Ford racing accessories, and aftermarket accessories (3D carbon, DUB). This enabled the development of the engaging Yahoo! Homepage, which creates an extended media presence in traditional placements for the 2010 Ford Mustang.

“It’s rewarding to help bring our client's online advertising to the next level,” says Speedshape’s Corey Brent. “We worked closely with Team Detroit to create something that would truly engage the targeted marketplace and, along the way, worked with really great assets. This is a perfect example of the effectiveness of interactive media in the realm online advertising.”

Credits:

Clients:

Yahoo

Ford Motor Company

Agency: Wunderman/Team Detroit

Group Creative Director: Stuart O’Neil

Creative Director /Copywriter: Sue Driscoll

Associate Creative Director: James Robinson

Associate Creative Director: Jennifer Powers

Group Account Director: Joe Karle

Account Director: Melissa Behring

Assoc. Director Technology, VP - Ford Brand: Nathaniel Bishop

Tech Lead: Chad Datillio

Program Manager: Amy Daneke

Project Manager: Bill Peters

Strategist: Jennifer TooleWu

Information Architect: Maureen Honore

3D Digital Production Studio: Speedshape

CG Vehicle TD – Micheal Risse

CG Compositor – Doug Hogan

Interactive Creative Director – Corey Brent

Producer – Joan DiSalvo

Scott Susalla- VP Sales

Josh Hamman-Interactive Developer

Flash Design Studio: Firstborn

About Speedshape:

3D integrated digital production studio Speedshape specializes in helming creative content for commercial, broadcast design, interactive and print campaigns for a diverse line-up of clients including AT&T, Camaro, Knoll, Ford, SAAB, Fox Sports, and Michelin, among others. Speedshape enjoys strategic partnerships with Microsoft and HP, to name just a few. With a production model defined by simplicity, creativity, and flexibility, Speedshape can seamlessly insert creative content into existing campaigns, or come up with a big idea that will leverage all the company strengths into an effective, dynamic, and integrated effort. www.speedshape.com